Battle of Etran Harborage (Earth-5875)
The Battle of Etran Harborage was a battle of the First Contact War between the [[UNSC Spirit of Fire (Earth-5875)|UNSC Spirit of Fire]] and its crew, the Covenant and the xenomorphs on the forerunner shield world Etran Harborage, which occurred from February 23rd, 2531 to February 25th, 2531. Prelude Etran Harborage was discovered by the Covenant some months before 2531, although their technology was not enough to uncover its location and secrets. The Prophet of Regret sent Arbiter Ripa 'Moramee to investigate a buried forerunner relic on Shanxi during the Shanxi Campaign which could reveal the location of the fabled world. Ripa 'Moramee and the Prophet of Regret at the Apex Site on Etran Harborage.]] With the ongoing the First Contact War, the Covenant hoped that by using the ''Sojourner''-class dreadnoughts that were hidden on the shield world, they would be able to exterminate humanity more rapidly rather than waste their resources and troops in countless battles. Despite their ability to reach Etran and its fleet, they were unable to activate them. After the Covenant caught the human Ellen Anders activating the Shanxi relic, the Prophet of Regret had 'Moramee travel to Arcadia to capture her duo to her mysterious "ability" to manipulate forerunner technology. Returning from Arcadia on February 10th, 2531, Ripa brought Anders to Etran Harborage. When Captain James Cutter discovered this, he immediatly set course for the [[UNSC Spirit of Fire (Earth-5875)|UNSC Spirit of Fire]] to follow the Arbiter and Regret. Battle arriving in a xenomorph infested area at Etran Harborage.]] Initial deployment The Spirit of Fire eventually arrived on the orbit of the planet on February 23rd, which appeared outwardly normal. Recon Team Echo and Recon Team India were deployed to Etran's surface, supported by a contingent of UNSC Marines, led by Sergeant John Forge. Together they cleaned an area filled with jiralhanae soldiers with air support from GA-TL1 Longswords and an M510 Mammoth. Xenomorph appearance After cleaning the area, the UNSC forces received a message from Recon Teams Echo and India, who revealed they were being attacked by "unknown aliens", before contact completely faded out. Forge and SPARTAN-II Red Team approached to investigate, where they made first contact with the xenomorph Aggressors and Lurkers that were hosted from the Marines. Despite this, they were able to retrieve the Marines' Mammoths and return to a nearby firebase they established. The UNSC was unable to send air support when their D77-TC Pelicans fell and crashed duo to the atmosphere of the shield world being dusty and foggy, a result of the hives the xenomorphs created. Upon picking Anders' transponder signal, the crew discovered it was in fact being replicated by a massive Proto-Keymind, which the crew of the Spirit was able to kill after heavy fire. Not long after, the ship's synthetic executive officer Serina scanned the planet to find Anders, which they discovered was originating from Etran Harborage's ocean, leading the colony ship to be pulled to the shield world's internal docking system, leading them through multiple tunnels inside the core of the planet. In the end, the ship emerged within the Dyson sphere, awakening a legion of Sentinels. Alpha Platoon, Bravo Platoon, and Charlie Platoon, the last remaining UNSC forces on the world's surface, had to fight for their lives in less than twenty minutes against hundreds of xenomorphs before being returned to the Spirit of Fire. The Marines were then forced to drive M9 Wolverines in order to clear the air from airborne xenomorphs that had hosted yanme'e soldiers. The Wolverines then managed to slow the descent of the Spirit by disabling the forerunner pylons. Afterwards, all local UNSC forces abandoned their bases and fled back to the colony ship aboard Pelicans, wiuth the xenomorphs taking their settlements over. As the ship fought its own through the shield world's service conduit, the Spirit of Fire became attacked by massive xenomorphs, which started to grow Breeding Ovomorphs on the ship's hull, leading the aircraft stored at the ship to fight against the boarding xenomorphs and destroy the Breeding Ovomorphs that were being formed. The Sentinels then detected the xenomorphs and started fighting against them, which provided support for the humans. However, once the Sentinels deemed the humans as possible hosts for the xenomorphs, they started to shoot against the Spirit of Fire. After the crew finished destroying all xenomorphs, the Sentinels retreated, leading to the ship emerging from the interior of the shield world. Interior killing two sangheili soldiers at the Apex Site.]] As soon as they arrived into the interior, the Spirit of Fire collided with the ''CPV''-class heavy destroyer ''Proclamation's Tithe'', which damaged the left section of the Spirit and destroyed half of its vehicle complements. Many Type-28 Ticks were deployed aboard the ship, and many UNSC Marines defended technicians who were repairing the ship's power core aboard HRUNTING Mark III Cyclopses. Serina later detected Anders' signal once again, finding it was at the inner surface of the shield world. Minutes later, the Arbiter used Anders to activate the forerunner fleet. Unfortunately for them, when they became awestruck by the fleet emerging from the ground, Anders used the large gap to escape through the shield world's portal network and eventually regroup with her fellow humans. Upon getting back at the Spirit of Fire, Ellen devised a plan to destroy the local Covenant forces and the xenomorphs, though it would require the sacrifice of the ship's Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engine; they would approach it to the Apex Site and used it to blow Etran's artificial sun. Once they arrived at the control center of the Apex, the lieutenant, Forge and Red Team carried out the plan and the slipspace drive, with Forge using the elevator to transport it, while Red Team guarded the site. The Arbiter appeared, cloaked, and killed the lieutenant after he had activated the lift to the shield world's star. Many sangheili soldiers appeared from their cloaks and charged at the SPARTANs. While Forge went to fight 'Moramee, Red Team dealt with the sangheili. In order to gain advantage, Forge released the locks of the Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engine out of the trailer, leading to slide at 'Moramee. The SPARTANs were able to kill the Young Blooded sangheili with ease, while the Arbiter was nearly killing Forge. However, his arrogance was his hubris, and John took 'Moramee's sudden lack of attention to slash his throat with a combat knife, later stabbing his chest his 'Moramee's own Type-1 energy sword. Forge later pushed Ripa's body out of the platform, but the reactor had overheated and was no longer able to detonate remotely, only with manual detonation bewing possible. While Jerome-092 offered to activate it, Forge declined the deal, and said the UNSC would never every SPARTAN they could muster to fight against the Covenant. The SPARTANs fled, stating it was an honor to serve with Forge, before returning to the Spirit of Fire. Sergeant Forge then detonated the drive inside the sun, leading it to go supernova and destroy Etran Harborage, which blew into a series of debris. Aftermath The destruction of the shield world led to the destruction of all local Covenant forces, the xenomorph outbreak, and the forerunner fleet, ruining the Covenant's advantage and war effort against the UNSC. By February 10th, 2534, the Spirit of Fire was declared "lost with all hands" by the Office of Naval Intelligence. A memorial service was held for all those who were lost aboard the ship, however, many of the family members of the crew did not attend it, as they still hoped that their loved ones were still alive. After the end of the First Contact War, the Living Monument, hosted by Commander Raymond Garcia, honored the Spirit of Fire and its crew among many other ships and soldiers whose lives were lost during the war against the Covenant and the xenomorphs. Much like the Nostromo three years earlier, the disapperance of the Spirit of Fire led to many spook stories and conspiracy theories among the UNSC, from the Covenant to ONI destroying it, as well as it defecting to Insurrectionist forces. When Mary Cutter, James' wife, was asked about her husband becoming an Insurrectionist, she attempted to physically assault the reporter. The ship was lost for decades until its reemergence at the Ark in 2565. The Assembly intercepted Covenant transmissions during the battle, noting the presence of the xenomorphs as the "variable" they have once seen after picking the transmission of the Nostromo and the massacre of its crew. The Assembly Minority suggested a potential union with the xenomorphs, but chose not to duo to the many risks involved with the action. Following the loss of the [[UNSC Sulaco (Earth-5875)|UNSC Sulaco]] even later, the Assembly came to recognize the xenomorphs as an "existential threat" and focused all they could to hide their existence. Category:Earth-5875 Category:Battles of Earth-5875 Category:Events of Earth-5875 Category:Battles of the First Contact War (Earth-5875) Category:Events Category:Created by Draft227